Inside Issue #2...
Inside Issue #2...
The Whistle Stop Tour
The first show was in a great little import record shop that USED to be (sniff... sniff) located in Santa Monica, called Texas Records. The guy that owned Texas Records, Michael, also owned a record label called Texas Hotel. He was the first person to introduce me to the Dels music. Every Thursday I would go into his store and basically spend my paycheck. One afternoon he pushed this album towards me. It was the first Del Amitri album. He said, "Try these guys you'll like them". So I did, and I did!
So, to the show.....By now you should know that in 1986 the Dels toured the United States in a station wagon. They played wherever they could, earning just enough money to get by. By the time they got to California it was close to the end of the tour. Since I was quickly becoming a regular customer at Texas Records I knew they were coming and I knew I wanted to see them.
What were the Dels like, you ask? Young. Shy. Nice. Clean-cut. They played on borrowed equipment (I believe borrowed from Downey Mildew-a Texas Records protégé) They played the entire first album in the same order that it appeared on the album (don't ask why I remember that, but I do!). They played good. Texas Records was a very small place, so the audience was very small. But the audience REALLY liked them! They had some friends along taking donations and selling t-shirts (and, yes I still have mine). Behind the counter at the store there were ice chests so anyone could bring beer, etc. So, yes, the guys were drinking beer. They didn't look old enough to drink beer, but they were!
The following night the show was at a seedy club called Raji's in Hollywood on
Hollywood Blvd. This time they had The Clay Idols and Downy Mildew playing
support. There was more of the T-shirt selling, and the Dels were signing the shirts. Justin wrote all over the back of mine. He drew pictures, weird phrases, with his name. Basically it was Justin Currie graffiti! It washed out though, I thought it was permanent ink!
At this show I kinda hung out with the Dels and the guys from Texas Records. They remembered most of the faces from the night before and we hung around in the back watching the other bands. The lead singer for Downey Mildew was sick and had trouble singing. After the other bands finished playing, the Dels used their equipment to perform. And just like the show at Texas Records, they played all of their first album.
It’s nice to continue to hear stories of them still taking the time to mingle with the fans. That’s what made them special then, and that’s what makes them special now!
During phase I of the Dels career - the "Chrysalis" phase - the cover song they chose to record and perform in concert was Van Morrison's BROWN EYED GIRL. It was recorded on vinyl as a b-side on the UK 12" of HAMMERING HEART. The version that was released was actually a live re-mixed recording, or as stated on the sleeve, "tortured live". This cover was the first of the songs covered to date by the Dels, with virtually all of them being by English, Irish or Scottish artists. Unlike most Dels songs to that and since that point, it did not feature a distincive Justin Currie lead vocal. Brown Eyed Girl featured Justin, Iain, and just about anybody else they could drag on stage to sing lead, backing or any other type of of vocal.
By today's Dels standards, the recorded and live versions floating around are a bit...erm...dodgy. But they show an early penchant for covering great songs, by quality artists. Hopefully the b-side (or at least the concert of) INTO THE MYSTIC is not far behind. Since we are the topic of Irish artists covered by the Dels, let's move onto if not the musical opposite of Van Morrison, they are at least the cultural opposite, namely Thin Lizzy.
During their 1990 touring the Dels covered THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN on a number of occasions, including their BBC appearence on Stardust Zoo. They opened the Xmas Barrowlands shows with it as well. The song plays well to the Dels style and allows them to play a power chord or two. Good fun and a song that owuld serve them well as the occasional show opener even today, I mean if the ACE OF SPADES can fly...
In the future we will focus on the following cover categories:
The Dels play: The Beatles, The Replacements, The 60's and believe it or not Madonna???
And finally, here is your chance to help me help the Dels, and perhaps add to the Dels covers catalogue. As any Del Amitri fan knows, they continually struggle with as song to segue into from LAST TO KNOW. While TAKE ME TO THE RIVER has worked in the past, it is a bit frayed. Send your suggestions to me, care of INFIDELS & POPSTARS, and I will see that Mr. Currie and boys get your input.
26. "Angry from Manchester"
27. Jon's granny glasses
28. Iains arrhythmic stomping
29. Andy's sunburn at Taste of Chicago
30. Jon's "baptism" into the "Gospel of Del Amitri" in Cleveland, MS
31. Ashley’s green gum
32. Hearing Medicine, live
33. Their appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman
34. The Roll To Me video
35. Hearing them on the radio
36. Ashley is “minty”
37. The Mexican sombreros and bongos at the end of the "Let's Go Home" video.
38. "He sees no apparent difference 'tween a chimney and a church spire."
39. They're Scottish, so they're not crap
40. “Opposite View”
41. Finding a copy of WAKING HOURS with the “rejected” cover
42. Ashley’s wad of green gum
43. “Angry from Manchester”
44. When the music brings in a new fan
45. The “yearly” newsletters
46. “Legends Of The Mall”
47. The “Dilemma Tree” story
48. The radio interviews
49. The rejected and unreleased album (c’mon guys, put it out as b-sides at least!)
50. The “special” beat of “Just Like A Man”
 
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